I know, I know. Water rocket. Whatever, right? Been there, done that, it’s cool and all, but it’s kinda like the diet coke & mentos thing. It’s been done to death. Well, this ain’t your daddy’s water rocket, let’s put it that way. → Read More
Take this rumor like you would any other Internet rumor. You never know though, some of this info is new and might be true. A French website, Logic-Sunrise, is reporting from a very reliable source within the bowels of Nintendo that an update is played for 2010 and it’s going to be a big one. Well, big for Nintendo and on par with the current offerings from Sony and Microsoft, that is. → Read More
Heads up FPS fans. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is on sale this weekend on Valve’s Steam store for a fiver. That’s quite the discount off the already quite reasonable price of $20. → Read More
I was Tweeting with Gartenberg last night about all the great Android games. After all, the Android Marketplace has so many great titles like Civilization Revolution, Canabalt, iShoot, and… oh… wait…
All kidding aside, the reason there is such a dearth of great games has to do with some programming choices in Android itself and it’s a problem that can – and should – be fixed before the Droid comes to market this November. → Read More
Facebook’s VP of Communications and Public Policy Elliot Schrage has posted an update to the site’s blog outlining a major rewrite Facebook is proposing for its Privacy Policy. Schrage writes that the new version eliminates the legalese of the privacy policy the company has used up until now, spelling out what the site is doing with user data in more explicit terms. You can find the proposed document here and the current privacy policy here.
The new terms are certainly easier to read, and they also contain some significant changes (including a couple Schrage doesn’t point out). One of these seems to indicate that Facebook may well be releasing location-related features soon (this is the first time any language related to location has appeared in any of Facebook’s policy documents, Facebook has confirmed) :
“Location Information. When you share your location with others or add a location to something you post, we treat that like any other content you post (for example, it is subject to your privacy settings). If we offer a service that supports this type of location sharing we will present you with an opt-in choice of whether you want to participate.”
I had high hopes for “Avatar.” I’ve seen James Cameron talking about it twice, and interviewed one of the motion capture artists, Reuben Langdon. But what I’m seeing in this trailer is a jumble of cliches and unconvincing, at least on the small screen, CG effects.
Why they picked electric blue cat-people instead of some truly alien species is a mystery to me; with a less humanoid critter, suspension of disbelief is much easier. But our brains are tuned to detect the problems with these almost-human special effects, and the whole thing is going to look fake as a result. → Read More
Now that the dust is settling on the newly launched Google Music (if you don’t yet have it in your normal Google search results, you can use it here) that integrates LaLa and iLike/MySpace streaming music, all I can think of is this: What were Facebook and Ticketmaster thinking when they passed up the opportunity to acquire iLike?
MySpace is the big lottery winner here. They bought iLike for $20 million in August. What they got: a talented (literally) team that is starting to fill the executive ranks at MySpace, the biggest music application on Facebook, and, it turns out, a deal with Google that is now sending massive traffic flow directly to MySpace Music.
Our understanding from sources is that MySpace made an offer to iLike without knowing about the Google deal. Supposedly, since iLike was under NDA, all they knew was that iLike had a big partnership opportunity with some big company, nothing more. In hindsight the iLike deal looks smart even without Google. Add that in and it looks absolutely brilliant. I’m no fan of MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta, but I’ll give the man credit here. → Read More
Remember, remember, the 9th of November! Gadgets, technology, and beer. I see no reason why gadgets and tech should ever bring little cheer. Last year’s Columbus meetup was a huge success, and folks have been asking me when we’ll do it again. Well mark your calendars for Monday, November 9, and join us for a friendly evening of networking and libations at the Surly Girl Saloon, my favorite cowgirl/pirate themed bar! We’ll be in the party room in the back around 6:30 PM. The Surly Girl has a terrific menu, and a great selection of beers, so tastes of all types can be satisfied. John Biggs will be there, so you can ask him in person all those burning questions you have about Japanese sex jars! John will also have the Motorola Droid, the Twitter Peek, and a few other goodies to show off. Feel free to drop by if you’re on the web services side of things as well. → Read More
This is a guest post by Nabeel Hyatt, Founder and CEO of Conduit Labs, which is the creator of Loudcrowd and other social games that help you experience music with your friends. His personal blog can be found at nabeelhyatt.com and he can be followed on Twitter @nabeel.
Yesterday, Facebook announced they are going to drastically alter the way applications can message users once again, likely throwing a wrench into every app developers’ growth rate. Hints of the coming turmoil appeared last week when Facebook changed the way feeds work. This caused enough worry that apparently Mark Pincus, Founder/CEO of Zynga, canceled his appearance at Harvard Business School so he could sit with his team and figure out what the impact would be to the viral rates of their massive hits such as Farmville and Cafe World. That’s not surprising, since getting posts in the feed is critical to continued growth, but the myopic focus on the “viral rate” by some in the industry has created an over-dependence on perhaps the wrong number. → Read More
[UK] Online film and TV aggregator BlinkBox has gone all arty on us, signing a content partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI) — bringing the total number of British TV and film titles on offer to over five hundred and the total number of “premium” titles available on the service to just under six thousand.
Seeing BlinkBox, arguably, go a little up market with the BFI partnership sits a little at odds with the company’s recent credit crunch-busting Pizza Hut promotion or its long term ‘viral’ marketing strategy whereby users can create movie clips – referred to as ‘Blinks’ – to share with friends via email or SMS. But hey, more choice is always welcome. → Read More
Perhaps you’ve been following the drama surrounding the Someecards iPhone app the past several weeks. If not, basically, Apple rejected the app on the grounds that it was making fun of public figures, like Roman Polanski and Hitler. Satire, it seems, it not okay in the App Store. And that’s fine except that potentially more offensive material like Asian T&A and upskirt apps, are apparently fine.
So Someecards decided to give in to Apple and remove any offending content. As such, their app was quickly approved (do what master says and get a cookie). But they’re not giving up the good fight. The guys behind Someecards realize the hypocrisy in Apple’s ways just as much as anyone. But they’ve decided to get their app out there the only way they can and move their fight over to Twitter. → Read More
Meet AIDA, the Affective Intelligent Driving Assistant. This is a prototype robot that utilizes sensors inside and outside the car to create “a platform comprising of a personal robot and an intelligent navigation system that aims to bring an innovative driving experience.” I don’t own an automobile, so practically every driving experience is innovative to me right now! Rather than traditional destination-oriented GPS navigation, AIDA posits “a navigation system that mimics the friendly expertise of a driving companion who is familiar with both the driver and the city.” Hopefully AIDA won’t complain about my driving the way all my friends do. Video and more inside! → Read More
In the cutthroat (?) world of wall outlet covers that feature built-in gadget holders, this $6 option might just be a contender. → Read More
[Sweden] Voddler, the Stockholm-based online video offering that’s being described as “Spotify for movies”, has signed content partnerships with Paramount and Disney. A deal with Sony Pictures is also said to be eminent.
Voddler, Inc., the company behind the new service, was formed back in 2005 and has offices in Stockholm, Palo Alto, and Beijing. It’s thought to have taken around $16 million worth of funding from investors including Deseven Capital, Freja Ventures and Lotsa SA.
Right now the service, which offers add-supported streaming of movies and TV shows as well as premium paid-for content, is only available in a closed beta in the company’s home country of Sweden. However, perhaps now that more content has been secured, Voddler is beginning to open up. → Read More
Web measurement company comScore, has acquired Certifica, a similar web measurement company based in Latin America. ComScore says the acquisition will help buid its presence in Latin America. ComScore did not disclose the terms of the acquisition.
Based in Santiago, Chile, Certifica was founded in 2000 and publishes analytics and statistics on Internet usage in Latin America. The sites measured by Certifica will be available for inclusion (on an opt-in basis) in comScore’s Media Metrix 360 measurement product, which combines panel-based audience measurement data and Web site analytics data to provide a more comprehensive view of activity. → Read More
Previously available to law enforcement officials and government agents, you can now get in on the fun as well with the $200 Invisible Bluetooth Earpiece from BrickHouse Security. → Read More
Alright, everyone, settle down. I know the Google Maps Navigation stuff is pretty amazing, but let’s not write off the traditional GPS makers just yet. They’re not going anywhere for a while. Your parents and friends will see to that.
Hopefully the sudden market loss that companies like Garmin and TomTom saw yesterday will wake the companies up and see that they are doing it wrong. They are in the habit of producing 78 different versions of the same GPS. Each model steps you up $20 and adds another feature. It’s a ridiculous business plan and totally opposite what successful companies are doing.
But it’s true. Google dropped a bombshell on GPS makers yesterday with its free navigation tool that trumps almost anything currently available. The Android 2.0 app is about as robust as you can get thanks to the always connected Android OS and almighty Google. You can simply say “Where is the Best Buy in Flint, MI” and it will take you there. All this is free from the “do no evil” company, Google. → Read More
As smartphones get more powerful and mobile internet connections get faster, battery life seems to be getting worse and worse. While there are a truckload of technologies in the works to make things better in the coming months and years, the only real option for mobile junkies to stay juiced up is to carry an external battery pack. Thing is, every damn time we go to use our external battery packs, we run into one of two problems: we forgot to charge it, or we forgot the cable required to hook it up to our handset. The XP1 cable from XMultiple solves both of these problems with one absurdly obvious solution: the cable is the battery. They’ve got models for the iPhone, BlackBerry, and any phone that can be charged over Mini USB. → Read More
Look at the AP, trying to stir up controversy where none exists. I’m sure by now you’ve seen the leaked Modern Warfare 2 footage (the video is down right now) that shows a terrorist situation inside an airport. The AP (and HuffPo) is making a big deal out of the fact that you can shoot civilians inside the airport. And? Are they trying to go with that weak argument, “Oh, violent video games make people violent”? How can people still believe that? → Read More
